Antitheet spare-tire device



R. WI JOHNSON.

ANTITHEFT SPARE TIRE DEVlCE.

APPucATloN FILED MAY 31. 192|.

Patented Nov. 7, 1922.

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. f l f Patented Nov. 7, 1922.

y 1,434,4e2 BATENT OFFICE.

RAY W. JOHNSON, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Application ined May 31,

To all whom it may concer/rt l Be it known that I, RAY W. JOHNSON, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand rotate of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Antitheft Spare-Tire Devices, of which the following is afull, clear, concise', and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in lanti-theft spare tire device.

It is a common practice for automobiliste to carry a complete spare tireand detachable rim ready to be placed on a wheel ink the event ofpuncture of a tire in use, such spare tire being generally mounted on aneXtra or dummy main rim permanently lsecured in place onrthe rear of theautomobile body. Much annoyance and many losses are yvery frequentlyoccasioned by the theft of such spare tires, particularly in largecities, when the automobile is left standing unprotected for any lengthof time.

The object of my invention is to provide a relatively inexpensive,simple, and thoroughly effective device which will prevent theunauthorized removal of a spare tire from its usual mounting on an extraor dummy rim permanently secured tothe automobile body. f

A specific obj ect ofmy inventionmis to provide a device of thecharacter indicatedin the preceding paragraph which will be adaptablefor any 4commonly used securing bolt regardless of its length and,furthermore, the device can only be released or removed by means of aparticular key iny possession of the automobile owner. f

Other Objects of the invention will more clearly appear from theldescription and claims hereinafter following.

In the drawing forming a parto'f this. specification, Fig. 1 is anelevational view of a spare tire mounted in the customary manner on aneXtra or dummy rim permanently secured to the back or other suitablepart of an automobile body and illustrating my invention in connectiontherewith. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view corresponding to thesection line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 8 lis an enlarged sectional view takenthrough the antitheft device and partsimmediately adjacent thereto tobetter illustrate the invention.

. Fig. 4L is a vertical sectional view correspondy ing substantially tothe section line 1 4f of AN'rrrHErr SPARE-TIRE DEVICE.

1921. Serial No. 473,797.

Fig. And F ig. 5 is an inside elevation of the locking plate detached.

In said drawing, 10 denotes a spare or dummy main rim or support whichis permanently secured to the rear or other suitable part of theautomobile body by any suitf yknown form and the same is mounted upon aso-calledy demountable rim 14 which, as

will beunderstood, is adapted to cooperate with a rim on one of theautomobile wheels having the same general characteristics as the sparerim 10. The demonntable rim 14, as shown, has Out-turned rounded annularflanges 145-15, one at each side. The complete spare tire, including thetire proper and demountable rim 14, is applied to the spare main rim 10in the manner shown in Ilig. 1, that is, with the valve' 16 of the tireextending through the valve opening 12 in said rim 10.

' y'Ihe complete tire is held in position against malicious removal bythe following means. Secured to said rim or support 10 at the bottomthereof by riveting or other suitablepermanent fastening means, is anupstanding heavy flange 17 to which is preferably permanently andrigidly secured a countersunk boltv 18, the shank 19 of which extendsoutwardly therefrom. In actual practice, it is found that these boltsvary greatly in length on different automobiles,

some Shanks being relatively short and Others relatively long. Saidshank is adapted to receive a hexagonal nut 2O thereon of common form,the nut shown having also an annular flange 21 at its base, which alsois of common occurrence.

The anti-theft device proper comprises, broadly, a base member A; alocking plate B; and a lock C.

The base member A is preferably in the form of a casting of suitableheavy construction. The same is recessed on its outer side as indicatedat 22 to provide a vertically elongated opening or pocket within whichis yreceived the correspondingly shaped plate B.` The back wall 28 ofthe base member A is provided with a vertically elongated slot 2l of awidth corresponding to the diameter of the usual bolt shank encountered.In addition, the back wall is preferably cut away as indicated at 25 toprovide a wider recess and one which is also vertically elongated toaccommodate the nut flange 2l whenever the same is used. With thisarrangement, it will be evident that, by screwing down the nut 20, theVbase member A is held tightly and rigidly against the flan-ge 17. At itsbottom, the base member A is eX- tended ldownv-Jardly so as to overlapthe adjacent edge 15 of the demountable rim and is curved as indicatedat 26 tor lit said rim. It will be understood that this portion of theconstruction may be varied to conform to demountable rims of diiferenttypes.

The locking plate B is also of heavy construction and shaped to t withinthe recess 22 of the base member A so that the outer face of the plate Bvwill preferably lie flush with the outer face of the base member A. Thelocking plate B is provided with a recess 2 extending completelytherethrough and adapted to be positioned over the recess 2a of the basemember A. Said recess 27 has parallel side walls 28-28 and is verticallyelongated so as toaccommodate the nut 2O therein when two of the facesof the latter are parallel to the faces 28. Vith this arrangement, it isevident that the nut 2O will beheld by the locking plate B againstrotation and, furthermore, the plate B will overlap the flange 21 of thenut when such flange is used. It will be observed also that it isimmateriall how long the shank 19 of the bolt is since it does or mayproject entirely through the locking plate B. This is of importance in adevice of the character' disclosed since it makes my improvementuniversally usable regardless of the different lengths ofsecuring bolts19 encountered in actual practice. By vertically elongating the openings27 and 24, ity is evident that vertical adjustment of the locking deviceis allowed in order to accommodate it to vary-- ing conditionsencountered in actua-l practice.

The locking plate B is held in operative position by the followingmeans. The bottom portion off the base member A is providediwith anarcuate undercut recess 29 and the lower end of the plate B iscorrespondingly cut away on the line. indicated' at 30 in Fig. 5 so asto adapt the extreme lower edge -31 ofthe plate B engaging in the recess29 and thus interlocking the lower ends ofthe plate B and base member A.At its upper end the lock plate B is provided with a barrel lock C, theone shown being of well known design. Said lock is adapted to beoperated by a key 32 in a well known manner. at its inner end beyond thebarrel of the lock with a radially extended lug 33 which is The turnbolt of the lock is provided adapted to be rotated through substantiallya complete arc of 3600. The axis of rotation of the turn bolt iseccentric with respect to the axis of the barrel of the lock so that,when said lug 33 is in full line position shown in Figs. 3 and 5, it isadapted to engage under a crescent shaped flange 34 formed in basemember A. l/Vhen rotated to an unlocked position, said lug 33 is adaptedto assume a position such as shown by the dottedv lines 33L in Fig. 5which thereby releases the vupper end of t-he plate B.

From the preceding description, it will be seen that when the locking`plate Bv is in position and the lug of the lock proper engaged under theflange 34, the plate B cannot'be removed or pulled outwardly and is, ofcourse, prevented from being twisted or rotated with respect to themember A by reason of the fact that. it is countersunk within the recess22. The nut 20, being held against rotation by the plate B' cannot beunscrewed even though visible and hence the automobile tire andassociated rim are main,- tained in place against surreptitious removal.Ijn this connection it is to be understood thatthe valve 16 at the upperportion of the tire prevents the demountable rim and tire from beingremoved at the top ofv the support 10.

I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferredmanner of carrying out the invention, but the same is merelyillustrative andv I contemplate all changes and modilications that comewithin the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In an anti-.theft device for a tire and associated demountable rimmounted on a support having a. securing bolt, and a nut adapted to belthreaded upon the bolt; the combination with a -hase member having aportion adapted to engage an edge of the demountable rim, said memberAhaving an.

opening therethrough to accommodate the shank of the bolt; of a lockingplate member having an opening therein through which the bolt is adaptedto extend outwardly an unlimited distance; and within which the nut isreceived and held against rotation with respect thereto, one of' saidmembers having an upstanding wall, surrounding and spaced from the edgeof the opening therein, whereby a seat is provided to accommodate theother member, theV latter being shaped to lit within said seat and toengage said upstanding wall, whereby said members when assembled areprevented from relative shifting movement transversely of the boltshank; and means for securingsaid locking plate member rigidly inposition on the base member.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with a basemember recessedV on one side and provided with an opening through oneWall. thereof, and through which opening a bolt shank is adapted to bepassed, said base member being adapted to be rigidly secured to asupport by means of a nut screwedr down on ksaid shank against saidWall; of alocking plate adapted to be fitted substantially flush withinand occupy said recess, said locking plate having an openingtherethrough alined with said opening of thebase member, said openingpermitting passage of an extended bolt shank therethrough but of a shapeadapted to engage opposed faces of said nut and prevent the latter fromturning Within said opening, said locking plate and ibase member havinginter-engaging portions 'for detachably inter-locking said plate andbase member when the plate is Withinsaid re-v cess; and a key vopera-tedlock mounted onsaid locking plate by which the latter is f adapted to bedetachably fastened to the baseV member Within said recess. i

3. In a device of the characterl described,

the combination With a base member havin a recess formed on the outerside thereot,

the Wall of said member at the bottom of they recess having an openingextending therethrough to accommodate a bolt shank, said opening beingelongated to provide for variations in the position of the base member,

said base memberv being adapted to be rigidly secured to a support byymeans of a nut screwed down on said shank against said Wall, the recessbeing Wider than the nut and adapted to accommodate the nut flange; of alocking plate corresponding in outline to said recess and adapted to beinserted there- Within, said locking plate having also an openingtherethrough alined with said opening of the base member and alsoelongated, y

- 4:. In a device of thefcharacter described,

the combination With a base member having a recess formed on the outerside thereof,

the Wall of said member at the bottom of the recess having an openingextending therethrough'to accommodate a bolt shank, said Opening beingelongated to provide for vasaid base member being adapted to be rigidlysecured to a' support by means of a nut screwed down on said shankagainst said Wall, the recess being Wider than the nut; of a lockingplate corresponding in outline to 'said recess and adapted to beinserted there- Within, said locking'plate having also an unobstructedopening therethrough ralined With said opening of the base member andalso elongated, said opening permitting passage of an extended' boltshank entirely therethrough and of a Width to accommodate said nut, butpreventing the latter from. turning Within rsaid opening of the lockingplate; and means, including a key-fy operated lock, for rigidly, butdetachably locking said plate to the base member.

" In Witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed myname this 27 th day of May, 1921.

. RAY W. JOHNSON. Wvitnesses:

CARRIE GAILING,

ANN BAKER.

`riations in the position of the base member, n

